10 Breaking Bad Facts, Bitch

Are you having bad Breaking Bad withdrawal symptoms? You and everyone else who adores the meth-loving show. To help you go cold turkey, we’ve compiled 10 facts about the world’s favourite TV show.

Warning: spoilers ahead!

1. The White Underpants

How could we possibly forget the pilot episode where Walter cooks in his white underpants. What you probably don’t know is that Bryan Cranston had the option to wear sweatpants for the scene, but he chose to adorn the tighty-whities.

2. Gus Fring

Remember the episode where Gis Fring has half his face blown off? How could you not? It’s still etched in our mind. Well, the creator of Breaking Bad, Vince Gilligan, sought the help of the prosthetic-effects team from that other AMC show The Walking Dead.

3. Bad Science

In order to prevent viewers from going out and creating their own methamphetamine, they deliberately omit facts on how to create the drug. A real-life DEA agent therefore consulted with Vince Gilligan and the show’s writers about what science facts they should include in the show

4. Tattoo

On the final day of shooting, Bryan Cranston only got a Breaking Bad tattoo on his finger. Badass.

5. The Porta-Potty

You can’t help but feel for Jesse in the porta-potty scene. As funny as it was, the scene was actually meant to involve Jesse being attacked by a dog. However, it would have cost $25,000 to hire a trained pooch and fly the canine to Mexico. Instead they chose for Jesse to take a dip in the outdoor toilet, which only cost $5,000.

6. Meth Advisers

When director Michelle McLaren joined the show in 2009, she was surprised by how the Breaking Bad team learn about how to cook crystal meth, as at one point an adviser would regularly leave the set to make a phone call about how meth should be made. When she told the adviser that she wanted to know who it was on the other end of the phone, they simply replied with “No, you don’t”.

7. The Porkpie Hat

Heisenberg wore the porkpie hat more out of necessity than style, as Bryan Cranston needed to wear a hat to keep his shiny new head out of the New Mexico sun.

8. Jane

The world realised what a bad man Walter White had become when he watched Jesse’s girlfriend, Jane, die of a drug overdose. However, Anna Gunn, who plays Skyler White, claimed that Bryan Cranston cried for 15 minutes once the scene was filmed.

9. The Writer’s Strike

Thank the good lord for the writer’s strike back in 2009 as it helped save Jesse. He was originally supposed to die in season one, but his popularity with the audience secured him a place in the next four seasons, bitch!

10. TV Networks

Breaking Bad is one of the best TV shows to ever hit our screen. You might be surprised to learn that it was turned down by four major TV networks: HBO, Showtime, TNT and FX. FX did, however, start work on the pilot, but showed just how foolish they are when they dropped it in favour of Courtney Cox’s Dirt. We know the show we would have picked!

Want more TV facts? Of course you do. Head on over to 10 Surprising Sex and the City Facts.